Oct. 25—UNM Lobo senior forward Mustapha Amzil hopes the beginning of this season is nothing like what it was a year ago at this time.

A versatile 6-foot-9 forward who came to UNM known as an outside shooting threat, Amzil started an agonizingly bad 1-for-21 from 3-point range over the Lobos' first 10 games — the audible gasps from Pit fans growing louder and louder with each shot he took.

Will he change anything about his approach knowing how bad things got a year ago?

"Not really. I'm just trying to build on how I finished last year and just keep getting better," Amzil said. "I feel like I can still get a lot better. ... The mindset is still the same every day, just focus on getting better."

His start to the season was so bad that Amzil went from starting the first two games of the season to being a healthy scratch from the Dec. 15 win at New Mexico State in Las Cruces, the team's 11th game.

All he did after that was quietly become one of the best reserve players in the western part of the country, winning Mountain West 6th Man of the Year honors.

In those first 10 games, Amzil averaged 2.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and shot 4.8% from beyond the arc. In the next 25 games he played, Amzil averaged 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and shot 36.0% from 3-point range. And not only did his play gain the respect of coaches, teammates and fans, but so did his no-complaints approach to getting through that very public slump.

The respect has grown so much he was one of three players voted by teammates as team captain this year, along with junior guard Donovan Dent and senior transfer guard C.J. Noland.

He has been captain of Finland's junior national team for years. A Dayton transfer, this is Amzil's first time as a captain in college.

"It's just honor," Amzil said. "My teammates trust me. I think I'm one of the older guys on the team now, so I've got experience I can help everybody with."

He said his experience has given him a new sense of confidence. Well, that and another thing.

"I think my English has been getting better, too," Amzil joked. "I can talk more."

RIP, ABDUR-RAHIM: Thursday's news of South Florida coach Amir Abdur-Rahim unexpectedly dying at the age of 43 rocked college basketball circles.

Few as hard as UNM Associate Head Coach Isaac Chew.

Chew and Abdur-Rahim, and their families, are close. In fact, Abdur-Rahim has publicly noted it was a conversation he had with Chew that made him decide to go all-in as a basketball coach.

Abdur-Rahim spent two years as a graduate assistant at Murray State in Kentucky, at the same time Chew was a young assistant coach.

"He said to me, 'You could be really good at this, but you can't have one foot in and one foot out,'" Abdur-Rahim said in an article on Kennesaw State University's website about his being that school's first-year head coach in 2019. "It lit a fire under me."

Abdur-Rahim led Kennesaw State to the NCAA Tournament four years later before taking the USF job.

He and Chew would be assistant coaches at Murray State (2008-2011, after Abdur-Rahim completed his graduate degree there) and again at Texas A&M (2016-18).

Another assistant on that Murray State team was Steve Prohm, who is now the head coach of the Racers, which this season include third-year, redshirt sophomore guard Patrick Chew, Isaac's son.

MOUNTAIN MEN: The crew at CBS Sports on Thursday released its annual "Top 100 and 1" players list. There was plenty of Mountain West representation, if you count the several players who at least started in the league.

The three current Mountain West players to make the cut were Boise State forward Tyson Degenhart, checking in at No. 41; UNM point guard Donovan Dent (81); and UNLV point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. at 96.

Of Dent, reporter Kyle Boone wrote: "A big name who could've transferred up but instead remained loyal at New Mexico, Dent is one of the best players in the Mountain West on a Lobos team that could challenge for the top spot in the league."

Six other former Mountain West players were included on the list, including former Lobo J.T. Toppin at Texas Tech (No. 38). The others: No. 15 Great Osobor, Washington (was at Utah State); No. 52 Graham Ike, Gonzaga (was at Wyoming); No. 62 Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State (was at UNLV); No. 75 Darrion Williams, Texas Tech (was at Nevada); and No. 89 Max Shugla, VCU (was at Utah State).

The Lobos are scheduled to play against seven players in the CBS "Top 100 and 1" list: No. 14 Kadary Richardson, St. John's; Degenhart at 41; No. 60 Deivon Smith, St. John's; No. 88 Dylan Andrews, UCLA; Shugla at 89; Thomas at 96; and No. 100 Kobe Johnson, UCLA.